If you?re not using ProPresenter, MediaShout or EasyWorship on a Mac to run your lyrics, graphics, and videos, you need to get there as soon as you can.
Using the Stage Display feature gives you more options to feed your band lyrics, and also give your speakers messages and notes throughout their talks. We?ve seen churches use a Teleprompter machine in a couple of very effective ways –
1. If you only have one machine running lyrics, you can set up the Stage Display to show the Next Slide of lyrics for your band.
2. Another option is for you to have a dedicated Teleprompt machine that does nothing but provide content to your teleprompt monitor. This is the preferred option because you can make changes and communicate with those on stage without interrupting your main lyric machine. It also provides another volunteer opportunity that is a great entry point for less technically skilled volunteers.
If you?re using Stage Display, here are our 5 Tips to make your process better:
COLLABORATE WITH YOUR WORSHIP LEADER AND SPEAKERS?
Nothing can substitute for this. You and your counterparts on stage must work together. You are one team, and you have to work as one. Schedule time with your Worship Leader to know what benefits the band on stage. Do they prefer 2 lines of lyrics or 5 lines of lyrics on Teleprompt (Note: if you do not have a dedicated machine, we suggest you do not go beyond 3 lines of lyrics on one slide)? Get 5-10 minutes with your speaker sometime during the week or when you can before showtime. What notes are beneficial for them to see? Do they need a counter? What is your plan to communicate to them if something crashes? The more you plan these events during the week and the more prepared you and your team are, the less stress is felt on game day.
HAVE A CLEAN LAYOUT
If your Stage Display boxes are on top of each other or its too much to look at, it can be very hard for you to have clear communication with your team on stage. We suggest having no more than 4 boxes on your Stage Display at one time. Too much going on can be confusing and you defeat the purpose of your Stage Display.
USE COUNTDOWN AND CLOCKS
The countdown feature is great to use to give your speaker a given timeframe to speak. This is a great feature to use if you have multiple services and you really need to stick to a tight timeframe. The clocks feature allows your band and speaker to see the time of day it is.
USE MESSAGES
Don?t go overboard on this, but use the messages feature to communicate to your band or speaker important things they need to know in the moment. Be sure to try to plan some scenarios out beforehand so its not foreign to them when they see a message pop up from you. An example of using this feature would be if you are a multi-site and you are on a time delay from your broadcast campus. If you need the band to sing longer in order to buy you more time, you can work out a message with you Worship Leader that says ?KEEP SINGING? or ?WE ARE READY?.
USE THE APP
You can wirelessly send a customizable confidence monitor to your device. Let?s say for instance your guitar player wants to see lyrics and chords but your singers only need the lyrics, the app can do that. It?s customizable based on the needs of your band.
Remember #1 – you must collaborate with your Worship Leader. You are there to help him. Partner with him or her to lead worship together. The app can also work for you speaker. You can customize his screen to show the current slide, next slide and a counter for instance. It?s a great tool, and cheap. Use it!
